Qatar's electricity demands rising
A sharp increase in the population has led to a surge in the demand of electricity in Qatar.
The maximum electricity load surged to 6,740 megawatt (MW) on 7 September 2014 from 6,090 MW on 23 July 2012, showing a rise of 12 percent, according to the Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation ‘Kahramaa’.
Population has increased sharply due to high influx of expatriates in Qatar. Total population of Qatar crossed 2 million mark at the end of August 2014 rising from 1.7 million at the end of June 2012.
The increase in demand was mainly driven by domestic users as domestic maximum load jumped by 12 percent in the same period.
The domestic maximum load rose to 5,180 mw on 7 September 2014 from 4,630 mw on 23 July 2012. However industrial maximum load witnessed fall as the load fell to 1648 mw in 2014 from 1772 mw in 2012.
“In summer 2014, Kahramma manage to meet the need of all sectors in Qatar. The production surplus provides the need of the electricity network and the as well as the GCC interconnection commitments,” said Kahramaa in the press release issued yesterday.
“In spite of the increase of customers’ number and distribution network components, performance has improved compared to the last year in terms of interruption frequency and duration as well as failure. It apparently proves the success of operation and maintenance plans,” it said.
Seeing the rising demand of electricity, Kahramaa has expanded its network. There are now 11932 substations compared with 10818 in 2012 and 11362 in 2013.
The Peninsula | Photo by Fadhu Clicks
